Are You Just Yelling From the Bleachers?

I read an article in a recent issue of Time Magazine entitled, The New Science of Exercise”. It shares how only 20% of people in the U.S. get the recommended 150 minutes of strength and cardiovascular activity per week.

The benefits from regular activity are impressive in terms of overall health and well-being. The article refers to this regular activity as “medicine” that is as good or better than the pharmaceutical paths so many of us take.

All types of physical activity from mowing the grass to playing with the kids to raking leaves and more count.

In addition, doing something weekly that increases your heart rate and tones your muscles is key. The important thing is to get up and move. Do some strength training. And move some more.

A quote in the article from 1905—yes, this discussion has been taking place for that long, mentions that for most of us, our activity consists of “yelling from the bleachers” or being spectators while others actually participate in the activities.

And while I think the subject of health and physical activity is important, there is another kind of “yelling from the bleachers” that I also want to discuss.

Spectator Sport Spirituality
The New Thought/Ancient Wisdom teaching prides itself on being “practical” or an approach to spirituality that focuses more on applying its principles to daily living rather than engaging in theory.

Much of the early focus in the United States was on healing. So, people were constantly incorporating techniques that promoted a healthy body and mind.

Yet, it is not an understatement to say that these days a lot of people engage in this teaching more as a “spectator sport” than actually getting in the game.

It’s easy to remind others, “change your thinking, change your life” or “your thoughts create your reality”.
But the real issue is actually working these principles. More importantly, being consistent in using them so that the first time we do isn’t in times of crisis or trouble.

When my son was in elementary school, he had a science project that involved examining whether changing the shape of an object affected its ability to float. We took some clay, balled it up and put it in a pan of water. It immediately floated to the bottom.

The idea for the second test was to shape the clay so that it resembled a boat hull and would float. He went on to the other parts of the project and for once we completed it in advance of the deadline. Or so I thought.

Later, around 2 AM, I sat straight up in the bed with the realization that while we made the assumption the hull-shaped piece of clay would float, we never tested it!

I went downstairs and put the clay in the bowl of water. It immediately sank!

With a little bit of effort, I shaped and reshaped that piece of clay until it floated. I told my son about it the next morning.

If I never tested it, we would have never realized that adjustments were needed and when it came time to demonstrate, it would have failed.

Put It to the Test
So, I wanted to go beyond talking about the principles we teach to testing them. On September 13, 2016, we started something I’m calling it the New Thought-Metaphysics Lab.